1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to frameless furniture and, more particularly, to a frameless furniture assembly that comprises an outer liner having an inner surface associated with one or more configuration support members to, in turn, maintain a predetermined frameless furniture assembly configuration that resembles a framed furniture assembly.
2. Background Art
Various configurations of chairs and other articles of furniture have been known in the art for years and are the subject of a plurality of patents and publications, including: U.S. Pat. No. 7,676,871 entitled “Pillow Assembly with Adjustable Girth and Elastic Center Panel,” U.S. Pat. No. 7,225,486 entitled “Therapeutic Seat Cushion,” U.S. Pat. No. 6,952,906 entitled “Packaged Furniture Assembly and Method Thereof for Compressible Furniture,” U.S. Pat. No. 6,899,387 entitled “Cushion,” U.S. Pat. No. 6,725,482 entitled “Frameless Chair,” U.S. Pat. No. 6,279,184 entitled “Frameless Chair,” U.S. Pat. No. 6,611,980 entitled “Molded Cushion and Method of Making the Same,” U.S. Pat. No. 6,141,807 entitled “Adjustable Height Pillow and Related Furniture,” U.S. Pat. No. 3,965,506 entitled “Furniture Construction,” and United States Patent Application Publication Number 2003/0066268 entitled “Process for Packaging a Polyurethane Foam Filled Article of Furniture”—all of which are hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entirety including the references cited therein.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,676,871 appears to disclose a pillow assembly with an elastic center panel and an adjustable girth. The pillow assembly comprises a C-shaped or ring-shaped pillow body and a pillow cover. The cover defines a continuous, generally tubular, ring-shaped enclosure sized to receive the pillow body. The pillow body defines a well, and the cover preferably includes a center panel that spans the well and forms a seat area. A cinch assembly on the front of the pillow cover allows the overall girth of the pillow assembly to be adjusted.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,225,486 appears to disclose a therapeutic seat cushion which supports a person remaining in a sitting position for a prolonged period of time, wherein the cushion is a generally rectangular body having a hollow interior with a plurality of generally radially extending partitions extending across the interior of the body, dividing it into a plurality of individual chambers spaced sequentially around the body. Apparatus is connected with the chambers to sequentially expand and contract them in an alternating pattern so that some of the chambers are expanded to contact and support the person while other chambers are contracted to relieve the pressure exerted against the person by the other chambers, whereby the formation of pressure sores and other harmful effects are avoided by periodically and temporarily relieving pressure exerted by the chambers against different areas of the person. In one embodiment the cushion is generally toroidally shaped, with a generally T-shaped central opening, and in another embodiment the cushion has a shaped reduced thickness central portion.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,952,906 appears to disclose a chair which has a removable outer cover. The chair has an air permeable bladder which houses compressible filler material. The compressible filler material allows the chair to be selectively compressed between various compressed states. A method for packaging the chair is provided which significantly reduces the weight and size of the chair. The method includes placing the chair in a vacuum chamber and suctioning air from the chair. The vacuum chamber may be partially open or closed during storage.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,899,387 appears to disclose an entertaining cushion that the user can change the shape and visually enjoy such shape changes. The cushion includes an outer cover member formed by integrally combining a plurality of individual bag members that have different shapes such that the respective interiors of the bag members are in fluid communication with each other and a particulate filling material provided in the outer cover member that is capable of changing the appearance of the outer cover member by moving between and among the interiors of the bag members. Beads are used as the filling material.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,725,482 and 6,279,184 appear to disclose a substantially spherical frameless chair comprising an at least partially gas permeable outer liner, an at least partially gas permeable inner liner positioned inside of the outer liner, and a plurality of polyurethane foam pieces having a density between approximately 1.0 and approximately 3.0 pounds per cubic foot retained within the inner liner. The outer liner includes a first end component having a substantially circular peripheral geometry, a second end component having a substantially circular peripheral geometry, and an intermediate component having a substantially rectangular peripheral geometry wherein the first and second end components are secured to the intermediate component to, in turn, form a substantially spherical outer liner. The inner liner includes a first end component having a substantially circular peripheral geometry, a second end component having a substantially circular peripheral geometry, and an intermediate component having a substantially rectangular peripheral geometry, wherein the first and second end components are secured to the intermediate component to, in turn, form a substantially spherical inner liner.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,611,980 appears to disclose a custom-contoured cushion for a wheelchair or other seating device and a method of making the same. In one embodiment, the novel custom-contoured cushion is comprised of a stretchable bag filled with soft and resilient closed-cell foam pellets adhered together by and/or embedded within an elastomeric polymerizable adhesive. The pellets do not absorb a significant amount of the adhesive and, after molding, remain sufficiently soft and resilient to provide a comfortable and durable cushion. Alternatively, the cushion contains soft and resilient pellets, but does not contain the elastomeric polymerizable adhesive. In the first embodiment, the custom-molded, custom contoured cushion is made by mixing the pellets with the adhesive to form a pellet/adhesive mixture, positioning the user on a bag filled with the pellet/adhesive mixture, molding the mixture around the user to provide cushioning around the user's seating surface, and allowing the adhesive to cure. The pellets and adhesive may either be added to the bag separately and mixed within the bag, or may be mixed outside the bag, after which the pellet/adhesive mixture is added to the bag.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,141,807 appears to disclose an adjustable height pillow that offers a user the option of many heights and degrees of firmness, and which encourages proper posture in various meditation and other sitting positions. The pillow is comfortable for the user in either meditation or normal sitting environments including workstations. The pillow includes at least one encircling belt either within a concealing sleeve or exposed as a dramatic design statement. The belt can cinch and constrict the medial portion of the pillow by reducing its circumference, thereby causing the filler material to move from the medial portion to respective upper and lower portions of the pillow thus increasing the height of said pillow.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,965,506 appears to disclose an article of furniture which has a cover of a flexible material having strength generally only in tension which defines a closed cushion chamber therein filled with ground flakes of expanded plastic material mixed with shredded particles of foam rubber. The cover may be made of an elongate generally rectangular piece of flexible material folded back over itself midway its length with the opposed side edges of the material overlying each other seamed together and the overlying ends of the material attached together so that the opposed side seams overlie each other at the overlying ends to form a chair. The cover may also be made in the form of a generally rectilinear seat cushion with a front edge, a generally parallel rear edge and a pair of end edges connecting the front and rear edges, and an elongate bolster having a length approximately equal to the sum of the lengths of the rear edge and both ends of the seat cushion with the opposite ends of the bolster attached to the seat cushion at the opposite ends of the front edge so that the bolster forms the back and arms of a couch. The disclosure also contemplates the method of manufacture of the furniture.
United States Patent Application Publication Number 2003/0066268 appears to disclose a process for packaging a polyurethane foam filled article of furniture (e.g., a frameless chair), comprising the steps of: (a) providing a polyurethane foam filled article of furniture having an initial volume; (b) reducing the initial volume of the polyurethane foam filled article of furniture to a reduced volume, comprising at least one of the steps of: (1) decreasing air pressure within the polyurethane foam filled article of furniture via a vacuum source; and (2) compressing the initial volume of the polyurethane foam filled article of furniture to a reduced volume; and (c) associating the polyurethane foam filled article of furniture with a package.
While the above-identified patents and publications do appear to disclose furniture assemblies, their configurations remain non-desirous and/or problematic inasmuch as, among other things, none of the above-identified furniture assemblies appear to maintain a predetermined frameless furniture assembly configuration that resembles a framed furniture assembly as is disclosed herein—among other things.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a frameless furniture assembly that comprises one or more configuration support members.
These and other objects of the present invention will become apparent in light of the present specification, claims, and drawings.